December 24, 2006

Super Mazipanario!

When I first heard that Danielle of Habeas Brulee had chosen Sugar Art as the theme for this month’s Sugar High Friday, I immediately had visions of the amazing pieces I would create with spun sugar of all colours, balanced delicately on top of more sugar. It was going to be so elegant. Then I remembered that I’m afraid of hot sugar. I also remembered that I’m incapable of producing elegant, delicate things, I’m like a bull in a tea shop. Smashy smashy. I would also like to add that I’m definitely not an artist, those talents were given to other members of my family. This made SHF a whole lot harder. Well, instead of fancy I could just go for ridiculous. I think that’s more my style. I’m a living joke.

A while back I was tagged by Artizenkitschen for the 3 Things meme. One of the questions asked for 3 things I’d like to learn and my response was: how to get someone to be my life sponsor, how not to ruin perfectly good food, how to make marzipan Mario. The life sponsor role is still up for grabs if anyone’s interested. I’m still ruining perfectly good food.

Strike one, strike two. Then the pitcher gave me a nice ball right over the plate and I hit that baby out of the park, (or at least a ground rule double…). I would make marzipan and then I would make Mario. Surely that would be a respectable addition to SHF. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. First came Mario, then Luigi, then Princess Peach, then Toadstool and finally, the green guy himself, Yoshi. When they were all finished, I stared at them proudly, but then had a pang of sadness. I had dragged my poor friends out of Marioworld and left them in the middle of nowhere. They needed a house or something, a place to put their feet up.

For the past few years during the holidays, I’ve gotten together with two of my friends and we’ve decorated gingerbread houses. I’m not going to lie to you, mine was always the nicest. That’s not boasting, it’s the truth. I even received a certificate one year proclaiming mine to be Most Liked by Martha Stewart. The other two also received certificates; however theirs were for things like Most Creative Use of Gum Balls and Most Unstable Gingerbread House Ever. This year, unfortunately, the three of us weren’t able to get together, but I was determined to carry on some form of the tradition. Usually, we had simply bought premade gingerbread and candy from the Bulk Barn. Our houses definitely never received any culinary awards.

This year, I decided I would make my own gingerbread. This would also be a service to my cousins who routinely destroy my house, tearing it apart bit by bit. I don’t think they really care what the gingerbread tastes like, they’ll eat anything with sugar in it, but I would feel better knowing that they were eating a quality house. As soon as I decided that I would make my own gingerbread I once again slipped into Fantasyland and had visions of an enormous gingerbread castle. I would recreate Princess Peach’s castle! Genius! I even planned on making round turrets, the whole works. That plan lasted as far as 3 failed attempts at making gingerbread turrets. I can’t even believe I tried 3 times. After that, my gingerbread castle quickly deteriorated into a much more reasonable gingerbread cottage.

Due to my failed attempts, as well as a request for a few dozen gingerbread men, I ended up making about 11 batches of gingerbread dough. This was not a good thing. I happen to have a weakness for raw gingerbread. I’m weird, I know. But I like it. A lot. I will eat it until I feel sick, (which I did, repeatedly). I don’t even like baked gingerbread that much, but if I’m rolling out gingerbread for say, a cottage, or gingerbread men or failed attempts at castle turrets, I will eat the vast majority of scrap pieces. This cottage that I built was a multiple day affair and that meant rolling out gingerbread everyday. It also meant that I had a stomach ache by the end of most days as well. I’m like the stupid hamster that keeps getting shocked and never learns avoidance.

Anyways, without further ado, Jumbo Empanadas presents: The Marzipanrio Show, in association with Marzipan and Gingerbread Productions Inc.

Living in Marioworld can be stressful. You’ve always got to be jumping, running, flying, sliding down tubes, fighting evil and collecting coins, ALL the time! Sometimes you need a break from the everyday… It’s a good thing Princess Peachipan has a cottage in the woods, far outside of Marioworld, in Gingerbreadland. So when the ‘world was getting them down, the gang hopped in their karts and off they went for a weekend of relaxation.

Welcome!

Side & Back

Everyone’s inside…

I’ve Got ‘Em Now!

Taste the Sugar High

Due to my technical incompetence, you'll have to click here to get the sound that I would have liked to accompany this post...

The longest part to do was actually the ugly gingerbread cottage... not it, per se, but the making mounds and mounds of gingerbread that I ended up throwing out in an attempt to make something nice.The marzipan guys were made in an afternoon. I like Yoshi best. Princess is apparently obese, it looks like she ate part of her cottage.

you don't need a life coach; just keep making fantastic creations like this one. Super cute and creative. Great colors, too. Maybe you could do stop motion animation with them. Like Wallace and Gromit.